U.S. Pat. No. 3,158,777 discloses a user-driven communication method and system, which enables direct communication of a services and goods provider with an Internet user. The disclosed system enables a surfer and/or interactive TV (iTV) user to influence, fully partially, the advertising space content to which he is exposed while surfing the Internet and/or using iTV. However, the content of the advertising space can be advertisement messages from specific providers, which are selected by the subscribed user or it can be personal messages that can only be exchanged between subscribers.
In order to allow a publisher or a third party entity to display a personal content message to a surfer browsing its web page, or to display personal iTV programs adapted to that surfer, the publisher first needs to identify the current user, and to know to which PSPs he is subscribed, if any. In methods described in prior art, the publisher needs to communicate with additional servers or entities (e.g., servers of a PSP), which the surfer might be registered to, in order to check whether the current user is a registered user. If found registered, the additional server may provide the publisher with the required identity or preferences of the registered user, or it can directly supply the personal service to the user. However, such a procedure is relatively complicated, and if the user is not a registered user in the additional server, then the publisher will receive no identifying information, and as a result, the communication established by such publisher is unnecessary, and reduces efficiency.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a secured identities collaboration system between network entities, that overcomes the problems of the prior art, and which allows to establish easy and effective communication, for example, between a service or goods provider and a surfer.
In addition, an object of this invention is to allow the publisher to obtain a preliminary identification of the users' subscription to certain PSPs in order to re-tag them in the future, in any case of PSP identity loss.
It is another object of this invention to provide an independent identities' system that resides on the publisher's server system, to eliminate any need for the publisher to connect to the personal service server to check the user's identity before deciding to redirect the user terminal to request the personal service server to serve him with personal content, or before tracking and logging the user activities in the publisher site and relating them to a certain PSP.
It is yet another object of the present invention to secure the user's identity at the PSP and to avoid access of unauthorized servers outside the PSP to his identity.
Other purposes and advantages of this invention will appear as the description proceeds.